FOOD & DRINKS MARKET

AMERICAS: DECEMBER 2007 - US coffee consumption peaked in 1946.

The Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture has examined its coffee availability data, a proxy for consumption, and calculated that US per capita coffee consumption peaked in the mid-1940s. In 1946 per capita availability measured 46.4 gallons compared to 24.2 gallons in 2005. This is despite the current popularity of Starbucks and its peers.

Instant coffee, which firstappeared in 1938, was issued to troops during the 2nd World War with a consequential impact on future demand.

The subsequent decline in coffee consumption is contemporaneous with the rise in availability and popularity of carbonated soft drinks which overtook coffee in popularity in the mid-1970s.

The nadir in coffee availability was 1995 and the subsequent rise is attributed to the coffee shop phenomenon which has counterbalanced declining sales in supermarkets.

However the age demographic of coffee consumption is skewed. According to National Coffee Association data coffee is consumed by only 37% of Americans between the ages of 18 to 24 whereas 60% of 40 to 59 year olds and 74% of those over 60.

In October 2007 it was reported, although not confirmed, that Procter & Gamble had hired Blackstone to explore the sale of its Folger and Millsone coffee businesses.

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